After their acclaimed début recording for Onyx of Respighi, Schmitt and Hindemith, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra and their charismatic Viennese music director Sascha Goetzel have devised a fascinating program of ballet music composed during the turbulent interwar years of the 20th century. The music reflects the edgy, dangerous and turbulent political and social landscape of the period. Here Ravel's La Valse, with its refracted memories of a vanished Hapsburg Vienna, is contrasted with the primitive barbarism of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite and Schulhoff's Ogelala and the lurid violence of Bartok's Miraculous Mandarin. The disc's rare gem is Holst's ballet score from his comic opera The Perfect Fool. Though less concerned with human drama than the other works on this disc, the drive, energy and sheer brilliance of Holst's score is very much of its time.

"These five pieces ably summarise the ferment of creativity unleashed in the aftermath of the First World War...Most fascinating of all is the Ogelala ballet suite by Erwin Schulhoff, a Czech composer who died in a Nazi concentration camp: it most clearly exhibits the liberating influence of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring." -The Independent

"A brilliant idea: to assemble five ballets from the 1910s or 1920s that are all supposedly inspired by the mythological past, yet evoke the violence of the “machine age”...The Turkish all-stars give hard-edged performances under Sascha Goetzel." -The Times

Gramophone MagazineThere's something uniquely exciting about hearing a keen young orchestra devouring difficult but exciting music whole, which is precisely what the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic does...Most of the orchestral playing delivers in spades and the sound quality is very good too, if occasionally wanting in inner detail. So, taken as a whole, this is an exciting CD (the orchestra's second for Onyx) that deserves the widest currency.

American Record Guide, July / August 2012Goetzel may be right when he claims that anyone who listens to this disc straight through will need a trip to the pub. Despite my minor reservations, it is a colorful and exciting set of performances of works that are colorful and exciting to begin with. The playing is extraordinary in its commitment and technique. At 80 minutes, you more than get your money's worth. Martin Anderson's notes about the music are concise but informative, and he adds plenty of welcome information about the orchestra and conductor.

The Independent, 10th February 2012These five pieces ably summarise the ferment of creativity unleashed in the aftermath of the First World War...Most fascinating of all is the Ogelala ballet suite by Erwin Schulhoff, a Czech composer who died in a Nazi concentration camp: it most clearly exhibits the liberating influence of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

The Times, 18th February 2012A brilliant idea: to assemble five ballets from the 1910s or 1920s that are all supposedly inspired by the mythological past, yet evoke the violence of the "machine age"...The Turkish all-stars give hard-edged performances under Sascha Goetzel.